Uruguay make their IHF Men’s World Championship debut after finishing third at the 2020 Men's South and Central American Handball Championship, which took place in Brazil in January.

Coach Jorge Botejara called the qualification a “long-awaited step for Uruguayan handball,” with a men’s youth team qualification being all that is missing from a full IHF set – not bad for a country of just 3.5 million people and with around 1,950 registered players.

After missing the 2015 and 2017 editions of the IHF Men’s Handball World Championship, Republic of Korea and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea competed at Germany/Denmark 2019 as a unified team, placing 22nd.

Republic of Korea were runners-up last January at the 2020 AHF Men’s Asian Championship in Kuwait – it was their best rank at the continental event since 2012 and earned them a spot at Egypt 2021. 

Portugal are making their comeback to the IHF Men’s World Championship after an 18-year hiatus, yet their ambitions are sky high.

They have never progressed further than the Round of 16, in 2001, but coach Paulo Pereira, has never been one to back off from a tough challenge.

After a sixth-place finish at the Men’s EHF EURO 2020, Pereira is looking to build upon that success and is eyeing the best-ever performance for Portugal at the IHF Men’s World Championship.